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Topic · Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications

Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications is a research topic within Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics. Science Explorer counts 60k research works in it since 1950. 9.9% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers advances in atomic force microscopy techniques, including force spectroscopy, nanoscale friction, mechanochemistry, high-speed imaging, single-molecule studies, and their applications in biology and surface forces. The papers explore topics such as nanotribology, mechanical manipulation at the atomic scale, and the study of intermolecular forces.

  • Atomic Force Microscopy
  • Force Spectroscopy
  • Nanoscale Friction
  • Mechanochemistry
  • High-Speed Imaging
  • Single-Molecule Studies
  • Biological Applications
  • Surface Forces
  • Nanotribology
  • Mechanical Manipulation
Research works
60k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
5.9k
per year above
Top-10% rate
9.9%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
-19%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
31% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications

Which countries lead Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.4k and 1.1k works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.4k works
  2. 2 United States 1.1k works
  3. 3 Germany 414 works
  4. 4 Japan 404 works
  5. 5 France 291 works
  6. 6 United Kingdom 235 works
  7. 7 India 189 works
  8. 8 Russia 175 works
  9. 9 Italy 155 works
  10. 10 South Korea 119 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 30.9%United States: 24.5%Germany: 9.3%Japan: 9.1%6 others listed: 26.2%31%largest
China1,369 · 30.9%United States1,087 · 24.5%Germany414 · 9.3%Japan404 · 9.1%6 others listed1,163 · 26.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 146 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 136 works
  3. 3 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 79 works
  4. 4 Tsinghua UniversityChina 53 works
  5. 5 Max Planck SocietyGermany 36 works
  6. 6 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 34 works
  7. 7 Zhejiang UniversityChina 33 works
  8. 8 Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChina 31 works
  9. 9 Harbin Institute of TechnologyChina 30 works
  10. 10 University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 27 works

Who are the leading researchers in Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications include Zhong Lin Wang, Kostya S. Novoselov and Andre K. Geim.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Kostya S. Novoselov United Kingdom 331k citations
  3. 3 Andre K. Geim United Kingdom 315k citations
  4. 4 Yury G. Gogotsi United States 313k citations
  5. 5 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  6. 6 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  7. 7 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  8. 8 Gordon Brent Mills United States 265k citations
  9. 9 Yi Ping Cui United States 261k citations
  10. 10 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications?

The most cited paper in Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications is "An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments" (W. C. Oliver, George M. Pharr, 1992), with 27,030 citations. Next come "A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve" (23,507) and "Measurement of the Elastic Properties and Intrinsic Strength of Monolayer Graphene" (20,935).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments W. C. Oliver, George M. Pharr · Journal of materials research/Pratt's guide to venture capital sources Jun 1992 27,030
2 A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, A. F. Huxley · The Journal of Physiology Open access 28 Aug 1952 23,507
3 Measurement of the Elastic Properties and Intrinsic Strength of Monolayer Graphene Changgu Lee, Xiaoding Wei, Jeffrey W. Kysar et al. · Science 17 Jul 2008 20,935
4 Atomic Force Microscope Gerd K. Binnig, C. F. Quate, Ch. Gerber · Physical Review Letters Open access 3 Mar 1986 14,628
5 Squeeze-and-Excitation Networks Jie Hu, Li Shen, Samuel Albanie et al. · IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence 2 May 2019 12,749
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research done?

The largest centres of Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan), Paris (France) and Shanghai (China).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 278 works
  2. 2 TokyoJapan 116 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 109 works
  4. 4 ShanghaiChina 96 works
  5. 5 NanjingChina 75 works
  6. 6 MoscowRussia 71 works
  7. 7 Xi'anChina 67 works
  8. 8 HangzhouChina 62 works
  9. 9 GuangzhouChina 53 works
  10. 10 ChengduChina 50 works
See Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications?

Among universities, judged by research, Tsinghua University, Stanford University and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 17.54%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Massachusetts Instit…Tsinghua UniversityÉcole Polytechnique …Stanford University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Tsinghua UniversityChina 66.618.7%4.8×53 -16.7%
2Stanford UniversityUnited States 65.018.2%3.5×25 -6.4%
3École Polytechnique Fédérale de LausanneSwitzerland 62.318.6%12.2×24 -22.1%
4Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUnited States 62.219.5%7.1×24 -21.3%
5University of Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 59.115.0%3.4×27 +27.2%
6University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignUnited States 57.622.2%4.9×21 -38.1%
7Southwest Jiaotong UniversityChina 57.213.4%6.3×24 +27.3%
8ETH ZurichSwitzerland 56.717.4%5.5×18 -45.3%
9Zhejiang UniversityChina 54.511.6%2.6×33 +24.1%
10Duke UniversityUnited States 52.320.8%3.2×13 -22.8%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications, country by country

Is Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 19% lower than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2012.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.023% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%0.15%Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications0.020% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Force Microscopy Techniques and Applications10.0% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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